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BackTrack 4 Pre Final Kernel Update

We have pushed a new kernel to the repository and updated several drivers. The upgrade process is a bit convoluted, but has been streamlined for the future. For now, run these commands from your backtrack box to update to the latest kernel and drivers: apt-get update apt-get install -d linux-image cd /var/cache/apt/archives/ dpkg -i –force all linux-image-2.6.30.5_2.6.30.5-10.00.Custom_i386.deb apt-get dist-upgrade apt-get install [...]

I have installed the new kernel and I would like to make a couple of comments, so that you can implement them in case you consider it appropriate.

The first is concerning high memory. My laptop has 4GiB of RAM and both with the new kernel and the previous one, only 3GiB were recognized. I have recompiled the kernel using then CONFIG_HIGHMEM64G option instead of CONFIG_HIGHMEM4G, which is the one used by default. With CONFIG_HIGHMEM64G the 4GiB are recognized without any problem.

The laptop also has a Broadcom Corporation BCM4312 802.11b/g [14e4:4315] wireless network interface, which uses the broadcom-sta driver. After upgrading the kernel following the procedure explained in the blog, the broadcom-sta package is upgraded as well but it seems that the module in the new package is compiled for the 2.6.29.4 kernel, even though it is copied in the /lib/modules/2.6.30.5 directory. When the module is loaded an error is generated stating that the magic number of the kernel is 2.6.29.4.

I have a BT4 running in a vmware machine, after I did this kernel update following the steps in the blog, the machine has been having slow downs, the mouse pointer moves too slow and I can't type neither.

I have a BT4 running in a vmware machine, after I did this kernel update following the steps in the blog, the machine has been having slow downs, the mouse pointer moves too slow and I can't type neither.

Any help?

Reinstall bt4 to vmware, take a snapshot BEFORE kernel upgrade, upgrade kernel (make sure to follow every step) and if it doesn't work, revert you virtual machine to the previous state. I wouldn't worry about not having the new kernel for now.